Malpractice Brings New Business?
The problem with obstetricians leaving the field because of high medical malpractice fees has lead to a new wave of doctors: a laborist. With many OBs leaving the field, a laborist comes in right at delivery time to deliver the baby instead of being the patient’s doctor throughout the pregnancy.
Called laborists or OB hospitalists, specialists such as Kontoules are helping fill a void created by the growing number of obstetrician-gynecologists who have stopped delivering babies because of grueling on-call schedules and high malpractice insurance costs. The Boston-based ProMutual Group, the largest malpractice insurer in the state, said about 65 of the 120 obstetrician-gynecologists it insures have quit delivering babies.
For expectant mothers, who traditionally have carefully hand-picked their obstetricians to see them through pregnancy and delivery, the advent of laborists means they typically won’t meet the doctor attending the birth until they arrive at the hospital.